Sherlock - The Game Is On!

The Abominable Bride- Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Third POV

The trio walk towards the vaults. Standing near, drawing closer, a feminine silhouette. Walking away from the shadows, Michelle appears.

The chanting, which sounds like Latin, gets louder, the voices sounding female. There are more burning braziers along the route. Mary walks to vacate the place besides Michelle before turning and beckoning the men to continue following her. They reach a pair of arched stone windows. Mary and Watson go to one window and Holmes and Michelle to the other and they watch as, in another corridor across a gap, many figures process past.

All of them are wearing dark blue robes and have pointed conical hats, reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan, over their heads obscuring their faces. "Great God, what is this place? And what the devil are you two doing here?"

"We've been making enquiries. Mr Holmes asked me." Mary stated. "Holmes, how could you?!" Watson turns to Holmes. Michelle flicks her hand in the air dismissively. "No, not him. The clever one. Although, there not as clever as I." Michelle stated. Holmes seems surprisingly unmoved by that statement. "It seemed obvious to me that this business could not be managed alone. Our theory is that Mrs Ricoletti had help, help from her friends."

"Bravo, girls." Holmes praises. He looks at Michelle, finally catching up with what she just said. "'The clever one'?" Michelle giggled lightly. "I thought I was losing you." Watson murmurs to his wife. "I thought perhaps we were neglecting each other."

"Well, you're the one who moved out." Holmes responded. "I was talking to Mary." The men turn to the women. "You're both working for Mycroft?"

"He likes to keep an eye on his mad sibling." Mary concludes. "And he had a spy to hand." The men then turn to Michelle. "Mycroft, is my best friend and if anything involves Sherlock... I'm more than willing to help." She whispers the last part to herself. Holmes smiles briefly. Michelle then turns to Watson. "Has it never occurred to you that your wife is excessively skilled for a nurse?"

"Of course it hasn't. Because he knows what a nurse is capable of." Mary answered. Watson smiles briefly. "When did it occur to you?" Mary turned to Holmes. "Only now, I'm afraid."

"Must be difficult being the slow little brother." She smiles. "Time I sped up. Enough chatter. Let's concentrate." They turn to watch the procession. "Yes, all right. What's all this about? What do they want to accomplish?"

"Why don't we go and find out?" Brushing his hand along Michelle's arm, Michelle savours the moment before Holmes turns and hurries away. The rest follow in tow. They run through the vaults, passing large fires burning around various columns which support the roof, and eventually reach a small chapel where the robed figures have gathered, still chanting. Holmes enters through the doorway behind them and sees a suspended gong to one side.

Picking up its mallet, he strikes the gong loudly. The figures stop chanting and turn to face him. "Sorry. I could never resist a gong. Or a touch of the dramatic."

"Never have guessed." Mary sarcastically replied, sparing a humourless glance to Michelle. "Though it seems you share my enthusiasm in that regard." He walks through the middle of the crowd. The figures stand silently in even rows either side of him. "Excellent." Mary throws a nervous glance at her husband, who is staring around the chapel in awe. "Superlative theatre. I applaud the spectacle."

"Emelia Ricoletti shot herself, then apparently returned from the grave and killed her husband. So, how was it done? Let's take the events in order." Michelle voice feathered out. Holmes crosses his arms and watches her in awe throughout the monologue: "Mrs Ricoletti gets everyone's attention in very efficient fashion. She places one of the revolvers in her mouth while actually firing the other into the ground. An accomplice sprays the curtains with blood... And thus her apparent suicide is witnessed by the frightened crowd below. A substitute corpse bearing a strong resemblance to Mrs Ricoletti takes her place and is later transported to the morgue. A grubby little suicide of little interest to Scotland Yard."

She then turns to Holmes, nodding for him to continue. "Meanwhile the real Mrs Ricoletti slips away. Now comes the really clever part. Mrs Ricoletti persuaded a cab driver, someone who knew her to intercept her husband outside his favourite opium den. The perfect stage for a perfect drama. A perfect positive identification. The late Mrs Ricoletti has returned from the grave... And with a little skilled make up and you have nothing less than the wrath of a vengeful ghost. There was only one thing left to do. All that remained was to substitute the real Mrs Ricoletti for the corpse in the morgue. This time, should anyone attempt to identify her... It would be positively, absolutely her."

"But why would she do that, die to prove a point?" Mary asked. "Because every great cause has martyrs; Every war has suicide missions, and make no mistake, this is war. One half of the human race at war with the other." Michelle finished, walking with Holmes along the crypt. "The invisible army hovering at our elbow, attending to our homes, raising our children, ignored, patronised, disregarded, not allowed so much as a vote." Holmes added.

The robed figures reach up and begin to remove their conical hats. As they pull them off their heads, each one is revealed to be a woman. "But an army nonetheless, ready to rise up in the best of causes, to put right an injustice as old as humanity itself. So, you see, Watson, Mycroft was right. This is a war we must lose." He turns away from Watson but turns back again as he speaks: "She was dying."

"Who was?"

"Emelia Ricoletti. There were clear signs of consumption. I doubt she was long for this world." Watson deduced. "So she decided to make her death count. She was already familiar with the secret societies of America and was able to draw on their methods of fear and intimidation to publicly, very publicly, confront Sir Eustace Carmichael with the sins of his past." Michelle analysed further. "He knew her out in the States." A robed woman's voice spoke. Holmes turns towards the sound.

"Promised her everything..."